More than 800 city residents, many of them living in this country illegally, have signed up for an identification card that promises to help them deal with police and emergency responders and to obtain local government services.
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But the Courier News reports the ID card program, which claims to be endorsed by the city and its Police Division, is proving to be controversial, with city and law enforcement officials calling the ID a worthless piece of paper that may give some people false hope.
As national debate continues over how to address the millions of immigrants living in this country illegally, a small but growing number of communities in the country have begun to issue ID cards to immigrants who lack legal status and who are unable to obtain driver's licenses or apply for jobs.
In some cases, police are unable to identify next of kin when immigrants carrying no identifying documents are seriously or fatally injured. The cities of Trenton, Asbury Park and Princeton issue such types of IDs.
But the Plainfield Community ID Card is not issued by the city or any government agency. It also cannot be used to obtain a state driver's license.
The card is sold for $10 by Angels for Action, a Central Jersey nonprofit that aides immigrants. To obtain a card, an applicant must provide a lease or utility bill proving city residency, as well as show another form of government identification, such as a foreign or U.S. passport, driver's license or a consular card.
Angels for Action organizer Carmen Salavarrieta said the ID card is endorsed by city police and Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs, who unveiled the program at a news conference two weeks ago with Spanish-language press.
But councilman and mayor-elect Adrian Mapp, who takes office Jan. 1, said Wednesday that the City Council never discussed or approved the ID cards.
"I would not want to mislead residents in any segment of our community by giving them the idea that this piece of paper is something that they can use and would be accepted by law enforcement or by businesses in general," Mapp said. "To say that it is endorsed by the city sends the wrong message."
Police Director Martin Hellwig, who leaves his post next month, could not be reached for comment Wednesday. But Spanish-language newspaper Reporte Hispano quotes him as saying that the ID cards would help police and those without identification in cases involving accidents or death.
While Plainfield police may recognize the card, police outside the city will not, said William Parenti, chief of police of neighboring North Plainfield.
Parenti said he declined to endorse an ID card program for his city when asked to by Salavarrieta.
"You would give people a false sense that this has value when it doesn't," Parenti said. "I met with the three banks in North Plainfield and asked them, `Would you accept this?' They all told me no."
Parenti said the Plainfield ID is no better than someone writing their name, address and date of birth on a piece of paper. Even with proper ID, police always double check identities of victims or suspects.
"We don't accept what's in their pockets because they could be carrying a friend's license or their brother's," he said.
Somerset County stopped issuing its own ID cards to residents several years ago after federal authorities discouraged local IDs for security and fraud reasons. The county now only provides veteran IDs to veterans who can provide copies of their military discharge papers, Somerset County Clerk Brett Radi said.
"We decided it wasn't in the the best interest to continue the program because the ID cards would have to stipulate that this card cannot be used for identification purposes," Radi said. "If it can't be used for ID, then what good is it?"
Salavarrieta argues that the IDs do have value. About two years ago, she said, police came to her with a picture of a dead man hoping she could reach out to the Latino community and help identify him.
City activist Flor Gonzalez, founder of the city's Latin American Coalition, said the ID program is "misleading" and "absolutely no good," saying that it does little more than tag a user as a someone who is in the country illegally and distract from the fight to provide undocumented immigrants with a way to obtain a state-issued ID and driver's license.
"If people have a passport, why do they need an ID card?" she said. "What hurts me most is that these people are very naive and they believe, because they are desperate to be recognized as human beings and to be treated equally, that this is going to be good."
Salavarrieta said city residents interested in applying for a card should visit Angels For Action from 4 to 8 p.m. Fridays, and 1 to 5 p.m. Saturdays at the PNC Bank parking lot at 209 W. Second St., Plainfield.
